Monday, May 11, 2009

Errant Tim

Starting pitcher:
JC Parsons

I know, I'm way late. A crazy weekend that just ended a few minutes ago cost me any chance at a timely posting. I fear that everything has been chewed over: Lincecum's capable yet flawed 6 inning, 3 earned runs, 6 hit, 1 walk and 8 strikeout performance, the wonderful defense and an inspiring bullpen showing. However, one tidbit may have been missed by some of you ( and if you are a Freak freak, you definitely need to know this).

Tim made his first career error.

I hear you out there..."No big deal"...yeah sure, easy for you to say! I had visions of a perfect career...no errors! How cool would that have been on Tim's Hall of Fame resume. Seriously though, it did cause me to ponder the great fielding pitchers that we have seen over the years. My favorite from days gone by was Rick Reuschel...more recently Kirk Rueter. How about you guys?? Who was the best fielding Giants pitcher of all time? I adamantly hope that Tim joins the pantheon of Great Fielding Giants Pitchers.

Although known more for his hitting &, more to the point, his slugging, Don Robinson was a fine fielder.

But, perhaps the best fielding Giants' pitcher of all was Livan Hernandez.

Weird how several of the better ones were quite tubby - you would think that maybe their stats were tainted by lack of range. But, Livan actually had quite a few fielding chances, so he still managed to get to the ball.

Maybe Bengie Molina should be converted ... think about how that would open up spot in the line-up for another big bopper, such as Steve Holm. Or, better yet, Guzman.

Yeah, I forgot about Hernandez. He was nimble for a big guy, and like Reuschel, could bunt and run the bases.

Convert Molina to a pitcher? I like it. We know he can throw the 127+ feet to 2nd base, so if he only has to go 60 ft, 6 inches, he might get some serious mustard on the ball. I've always said I'd love him like a brother if he hit 7th or lower.